Comments

Revised Common Lectionary Commentary

Clippings:
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost - October 26, 2014

Saint Dominiccontemplating the Scriptures

Author's note:Sometimes I have material left over when I edit Comments down to
fit the available space. This page presents notes that landed on the clipping
room floor. Some may be useful to you. While I avoid technical language
in the Comments (or explain special terms), Clippings may have unexplained
jargon from time to time.

A hypertext Glossary of Terms is integrated with Clippings. Simply
click on any highlighted word in the text and a pop-up window will appear
with a definition. Bibliographic references are also integrated in the
same way.

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Like that other great work of the first millennium BC, the Iliad, a funeral
marks the end of the old generation and old circumstances. Israel, the narrated audience
of the book of Deuteronomy, is now armed for what lies ahead, thanks to the leader’s
orations that comprise the whole book. [
FoxMoses]

This chapter resumes the story from the end of Numbers, after Moses’
deuteronomic addresses to Israel. [
NOAB]

Verse 1: “Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah”: Mount Pisgah
is in the same range as “Mount Nebo” but slightly to the west. Thus
two traditions regarding the place of Moses’ death are present in this verse.
[
NOAB] Numbers
27:12-23 says that Moses’ death on “Pisgah” while Deuteronomy
32:49 says it was on “Nebo”. [
CAB] “Mount Nebo” is from the
Priestly (P) tradition while “Pisgah” is the
Deuteronomic (D) equivalent. See also
3:27 and
4:49. [
NJBC]

Verse 2: “the Western Sea”: The Mediterranean is visible on
a clear day from “Mount Nebo” (v.
1)

Verse 3: “Zoar”: See also Genesis
13:10;
14:2,
8. This city escaped the destruction which fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. [
OBA]

Verse 4: “ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not
cross over there”: That God, being angry with Moses, will not permit him to
enter the Promised Land is also mentioned in
1:37;
3:25-27;
4:21-22; etc. The reason for his anger is not stated in the Bible.

Verse 8: “thirty days”: The mourning period was the same for
Aaron: see Numbers
20:29. [
NJBC]

Verse 9: “Moses had laid his hands on him”: In Numbers
27:15-22, Moses asks
Yahweh to “appoint someone over the congregation”. Yahweh commands
Moses to lay his hand on Joshua. This commissioning is to be before Eleazar the priest
and in the sight of the Israelites.

Verses 7-11: Human misery: the sinner is subject to God’s anger
and under his “wrath” (vv.
7,
11) For the association of divine anger with the withering of vegetation, see
also Isaiah
34:2-4; Ezekiel
19:12; Nahum
1:2-4. [
NJBC]

Verses 11-12: A prayer that people may learn wisdom by considering the
finititude of human life. [
NOAB]

Verses 13-17: A prayer that Israel may be delivered from its difficulties.
[
NOAB]

Verse 15: V.
12 begins a prayer that God will teach us to “count our days”; this
verse seeks that our days and years of happiness be at least equal in number to those
of misery and misfortune. [
NJBC]

Verse 16: V.
2 speaks of birth, perhaps of God in a maternal role. Even if our lives be brief,
may they be continued in our “children”. [
NJBC]

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Verses 1-12:
NJBC suggests that the similarities between Paul’s presentation of himself
in these verses and the descriptions that some
Hellenistic philosophers provided of themselves makes it preferable to see this
as an autobiographical confession, similar in some respects to that of Jeremiah.
So
NJBC sees my interpretation – as Paul needing to defend himself –
as outdated.

Verse 1: “not in vain”: Paul also uses this phrase in
3:5 (“... when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your
faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labour
had been in vain”); 1 Corinthians
15:10,
14; Galatians
2:2; Philippians
2:16. In Galatians
4:11, he writes: “I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted”.

Verse 2: “we had already suffered”:
NJBC sees Paul’s struggle motif as being a similar usage to that
of
Stoic and
Cynic philosophers who compared philosophical exposition to a gladiator’s
struggle.

Verse 2: “shamefully mistreated at Philippi”: Acts
16:19-40 tells us how Paul was brought before magistrates, found guilty, beaten,
and thrown into prison.

Verse 3: “our appeal”: The Greek word, paraklesis,
was commonly used in early Christian literature to refer to Christian preaching.
Its use probably depended on
Deutero-Isaiah’s announcement of consolation for Israel. (The verb parakaleo
is used in the
Septuagint translation of Isaiah
40:1.) See also 2 Corinthians
5:20 and Acts
2:40. [
NJBC]

Verse 3: “deceit or impure motives or trickery”: See also
2 Corinthians
2:17 (“we are not peddlers of God's word like so many”);
4:2 (“we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God's word”);
10:12 (“We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those
who commend themselves”); 11:12-13:20. [CAB] Paul’s vocabulary is like
that of Stoic-Cynic literature, so he is implicitly comparing his proclamation of
the gospel to the preaching of itinerant philosophers. [
NJBC]

Verse 4: “entrusted ...”: Paul’s language is like that
of the Athenian court. Public officials were first scrutinized before they were “entrusted”
with political responsibility. In a similar way, Paul and his companions have been
scrutinized by God before being entrusted with the mission of proclaiming the gospel.
[
NJBC]

Verse 4: “tests our hearts”: i.e. verifies that we are genuinely
godly. Proverbs
17:3 says: “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, but
the Lord tests the heart”.

Verses 5-8: These verses are one sentence in the Greek. Paul describes
the implications of being his emissaries for those to whom they are sent. [
NJBC]

Verse 5: See also 2 Corinthians
2:1-5;
11:7-11. [
CAB] Paul asserts the right of emissaries to be supported; however he has never
sought financial support from the Thessalonian church. [
NJBC]

Verse 6: In
3:7-9, Paul says of the Thessalonian Christians: “... during all our distress
and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith ...” and
“How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel
before our God because of you?”. See also 1 Corinthians
9:3-18. [
CAB]

Verse 6: “praise”: The Greek word is doxa – which
usually means glory.
NJBC suggests that money may be meant here.

Verse 23: “there is no resurrection”: i.e. The Sadducees seek
to discredit the notion of resurrection. Scholars agree that this notion is not found
in the
Pentateuch and is rare in the rest of the Old Testament; however, Isaiah
26:19 says “Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. O dwellers
in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth
will give birth to those long dead.” and Daniel
12:2 says: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”. The
Isaiah passage dates from the 700s BC, but it is unclear as to whether resurrection
of the individual or restoration of the nation is in view. Daniel was probably written
about 165 BC, so the notion of resurrection probably arose late in Israelite history.

The Sadducees limited scripture to the
Pentateuch. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection. For the Sadducees and
the Pharisees and resurrection, see Acts
4:1-2 (Peter and John proclaim Jesus as the resurrection) and
23:6-10 (Paul appears before the Council). [
NOAB]

Verse 24: The quotation is actually a conflation of Deuteronomy
25:5-6 and Genesis
38:8. The author thinks of
Levirate marriage. Note that the Greek word translated “raise up”
is anastesei – which is elsewhere (including v.
23) translated as resurrection. See Ruth
4:1-12 for Ruth’s levirate marriage to Boaz. [
NJBC]

Verse 32: The quotation is Exodus
3:6. Jesus’ argument is that because the Scriptures are in effect in all
ages, if the Exodus verse says “I am”, it means in his time I continue
to be. So, though Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have died, they must now be alive
in some way – so they must have been raised, in some way and to some degree,
from being dead.

Verse 36: 613 laws were recognized in the
Pentateuch, of which some were considered onerous and others light
. Jesus’ first commandment is an onerous one, but the second is a light one.

Verse 36: “greatest”: The request is for a summary of the
Law or, even deeper, for its centre. [
NJBC]

Verse 37: The quotation is Deuteronomy
6:5, but with “mind” replacing “might”. This verse is
part of the expansion of the legal principles stated in the Ten Commandments and
is part of the Shema, a confession of faith still used in Judaism. “Love”
is not primarily a feeling but fidelity to the covenant, a matter of willing and
doing.

Verse 37: “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind”: “Heart” meant will, “soul” meant
life, and might meant wealth. To
NJBC, Matthew has omitted might and has added another translation of “heart”.

Verse 39: The quotation is Leviticus
19:18. See also Matthew
19:19; Romans
13:9; Galatians
5:14; James
2:8. [
NOAB] The idea includes a right form of self-love. The combination of these two
commands is not clearly attested prior to Jesus and marks an important moral advance.
[
NJBC]

Verse 40: On these two commands hang”: The rabbis said that the
world hangs on
Torah, Temple service, and deeds of loving kindness – or on truth, judgement
and peace (see Mishna ‘Abot 1:2, 18). Matthew makes the law depend itself
depend on deeds of love.

Jews expected a number of people to appear at the time of God’s definitive
intervention in world affairs on behalf of Israel: messiahs, figures who would
rescue/save the nation. These included Elijah, the prophet like Moses, and perhaps
the Son of Man. But one messiah, the Messiah, was a precisely defined concept:
the anointed king descended from David who would establish
Yahweh’s earthly kingdom.

After the Exile, the expectation of the Messiah appears. The notion is found
in some intertestamental literature, particularly in books which are not found in
the
Apocrypha. But in the first century AD many Jews had given up on the Davidic
dynasty; after all, it was 500 years since a Davidic king had ruled. There was no
expectation of a Messiah who would be Son of God; rather the Messiah, while having
spiritual qualities, was expected to be a national hero, and probably super-human.

God did send saviours to rescue his people throughout much of Israel’s
history. In the early days of the Monarchy, each king was seen as a saviour sent
from God. Of particular note in the written record is 2 Samuel
7 (Nathan’s prophecy) with Psalm
89 and 1 Chronicles
17. While the “offspring” (2 Samuel
7:12) is clearly Solomon, “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever”
(
7:14) suggests that David’s dynasty will be everlasting. Psalm
89:23-38 contains the following key elements of the notion: election of David
by
Yahweh; promises of victory and wide dominion; adoption of David and his descendants
as sons; a pact between Yahweh and the Davidic line, which will last forever, independent
of the godliness of David’s successors. The notion is limited to the political/military.
See also Psalms
2;
72;
110 – known as Royal Psalms and used at coronations.

During the 700s BC there were Davidic kings who were bad. At this time, Isaiah
presented rescue from these kings:
Yahweh would directly intervene in human history to bring salvation, placing
on the throne a successor to David who would be worthy. See Isaiah
15:19,
22. Isaiah
7:14-17 and
9:1ff are particularly noteworthy: the child to be born to the wicked Ahaz and
a maiden of the court (mistranslated as virgin in the
Septuagint and thereafter) would show that God still endorsed the Davidic line.
This child’s accomplishments would be justice, empire and peace. While the
child seems to be a particular one, i.e. Hezekiah, Isaiah’s words are sufficiently
general that they could be (and were) taken later to refer to an ideal king of the
future – and to the divine restoration of the monarchy.

Isaiah
11:1ff may date from the 700s or may be later. It looks to the more remote future.
He will have God’s Spirit; God and will make him an ideal ruler. He will bring
justice and security from foreign attack. New here is return to the perfection of
creation which God intended, and the cosmic scope of his peace. He will reveal himself
personally. Peace rests on knowledge of Yahweh, and can be made known to others only by Israel. Micah
5:1-6 is also interesting: the new David will come from Bethlehem. There are
other allusions to the restoration of the Davidic line: see Jeremiah
23:5 (“righteous Branch”);
30:9,
21; Ezekiel
17:22 (“sprig ... of cedar”);
34:23 (“shepherd”);
37:34. There is no indication of saviour in these verses.

The only descendant of David to reign after the exile was Zerubbabel;
he was governor (see Haggai
2:2). Because the monarchy had ceased to exist, looking to the next king to be
ideal no longer worked; rather people could only look to the indefinite future for
such a figure, who would be part of
Yahweh’s great intervention to save his people. Thus the notion of the
Messiah as we understand it, but he is still not of a transcendental nature
(although no further saving acts would be needed.) See also Zechariah
9:9ff (possibly fourth century) and Haggai
22:39, where the Messiah is the instrument of Yahweh’s salvation but it
will be
Yahweh himself who saves with no human agent. The Messiah is no longer regal.
But much later, in the first century BC, the Psalms of Solomon see him as
both political and spiritual.

In the New Testament, some passages (Matthew
2:4-6; John
7:42) reflect the popular expectation that he would born at Bethlehem and that
all Israel would know of his birth; however in other passages (John
7:27; Mark
8:29) we find the idea that the Messiah would be hidden: people would neither
know whence he would come; he could be present with out them knowing it. [
NJBC]

It is possible that it is Matthew that sees the “Messiah” as “the
son of David”, a point he declares in
1:1: “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David,
the son of Abraham”. The messianic nature of Jesus would be particularly important
to Jewish Christians.

Verses 43-44: Comments tries to explain these verses in a small
space. Perhaps the following will elucidate these difficult verses further.

David was considered to be the author of all the psalms, so wherever the
word “my” occurs, people thought it equivalent to David’s
.

The Hebrew of Psalm
110:1 has Yahweh for “The Lord” and adonai for “my
Lord”. (Note that the NRSV translates this as “The Lord says to my lord”.
The NRSV translates Yahweh as Lord – with small capitals.) Greek manuscripts
of Matthew
22:44 are in capital letters throughout; there “The Lord“ and “my
Lord” are both KURIOS.

The capitalization in the NRSV translation
is unfortunate. It is also found in the Revised English Bible, the King
James Version and the Jerusalem Bible.

Jesus is asserting that
the Messiah (Christ) is to return to the Father in heaven (“at my right hand”)
until the Father defeats all the forces of evil in the world. They are the Messiah’s
“enemies”.

Verse 44: This verse is also quoted
in Acts
2:34-35 (the Pentecost sermon, where Peter argues that “my Lord”
is Christ and not David); Hebrews
1:13;
10:12-13. Hebrews also sees “my Lord” as Christ, the Messiah.

Verse 46: “No one was able to give him an answer”:
JB suggests that an appropriate answer would have been that through tracing his
human origin back to David (as Matthew does in
1:1-17), there is something about the Messiah to set him above David. Proof-texting
is dangerous, especially when duelling with Jesus!